Korean Kimchi (paleo, AIP)

The Princess was relishing her time on the coast, where the air was fresh and balmy. Each seaside village the ragged group of rebels visited invited them into their huts for meals and recountings of adventures on the sea. Here there was no sign of the war and hunger which ravaged the north.

“Don’t get too excited,” the rebel leader told her. “Your father and his band of officials are trying to bring the south strictly under their control. There’s an army headed down here as we speak.”

She sighed. “Must you ruin everything?”

He laughed. “Fine. Just enjoy all the great culture and cuisine of the southerners and take that back with you.”

“Can I take back some of this kimchi?” asked the Princess, munching on a piece of fermented cabbage. “This is much better than anything we have in the palace.” They had come upon a ceremonial uncovering of winter kimchi pots in the last town they had stopped through. The young man had told her of the fall kimchi-making, or gimjang, festivals, where village folk all over the country would gather for three days of preparing cabbage and other vegetables to store in deep earthenware pots below the ground for winter. Now, in spring, all along the countryside villagers were digging up pots of perfectly cured cabbage. The last village they had visited had sent them off with a couple gallons of kimchi, and every meal now featured the crunchy, tingly banchan, punchy with fresh oysters and baby shrimp from the sea.

“Pace yourself,” said the rebel, as she took another bite. “You’re going to turn into a giant cabbage at this rate.”

The princess grinned at him. “I’ve heard in some places they even make pajeon out of this.”

“That’s right,” said the rebel. “In fact the next town we’re visiting specializes in kimchi pancakes.”

The Princess’s eyes lit up.

“At the rate we’re going we’re going to turn you into a chef before we turn you into a rebel,” said the young man.

The Princess laughed. “Would that be such a bad thing? I don’t think you could give me a deeper appreciation of my own country and people than by exposing me to our full range of cuisine. You know what they say, the way to a Princess’s heart is through her stomach.” As she realized what she’d said, the Princess blushed, and so did the rebel leader. He mumbled something and excused himself to ready the band for their next trip.

This is my mom's homemade kimchi recipe - it is for non-spicy kimchi (she adds the red bell peppers for color - omit for those on AIP) and has lots of great flavor, in addition to probiotics once fermented. This is a large recipe (usually lasts us a couple months) and can easily be halved.

Hi Caroline! Oysters are totally optional, if you have shrimp paste or fish sauce that’s probably all you need for a little extra zing/umami flavor 😉 I think any type of glass jar will work, my mom uses a metal container with a snap-on lid – I would just say avoid plastic for health & odor reasons. In my experience, you don’t have to worry as much about pressing down on the kimchi as you do for pickles for the fermentation process so don’t really need any special fermentation container. Good luck!

Do you/have you ever added shredded carrots? Beets? Seems like they might add some of the color for an AIP, color that would make it “feel” more like its original version…though beets may be too sweet. Also, I’d like to try nasturtium. I’m growing them under the assumption that they’ll add peppery flavor. Perhaps this could be a welcome addition; have you tried them?

Carrots yes! I haven’t tried beets but that’s a great idea, although I guess you might end up with a more pinkish than red kimchi, but nothing wrong with that! 😉 Also some kimchi recipes call for added sweetener, so sweetness from beets is fine (or you could use it to replace some of the pear/apple). Nasturtium sounds like a beautiful addition as well. If you try any of these I would love to see/hear about the results!

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